What's new
By:
Filters

Lunchboxes?

Sceep

Sceep

🖕___ 😆___ 🖕
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
157
Messages
1,522
Loc
Central NM
Spartan vs Aussie vs Powertrax vs US Standard vs Nitro vs ????
pros/cons of one over another? it's been 25 years since I started shimming lockrights so tight they were spools. Then the damn pins would break and we'd just weld them into mini spools. :laughing:

Going into a ZJ V8 Front lp d30.
 
Last edited:
I think you answered your own question. :flipoff2:
 
I'm on my 3rd spartan, 3 different applications, all fronts.

I am a big fan for the price. In my full body 4runner it had great manners, I even drove home on dry pavement in 4 hi a few times. I broke 3 axles and a r&p with that same locker also. I felt like it had better manners than the D60 Detroit that replaced it.

I recent put on in my samurai and have driven it in 4hi on the road, or 2hi with hubs locked. It's pretty good also, but with a fraction of the wieght it occasionally doest want to unlock.
 
I blew up a lockrite in a 35 on 33s. twice. I don't think they're worth the $300 it costs to buy them even with a free replacement every time it breaks. I'd rather have a selectable up front and I know that is $1,000 into a dana 30.
 
All lunchbox lockers have the potential to be decent, or suck terribly.

Lock-wrongs can be iffy. I never liked mine and these are pretty much all I've driven for lunchboxes. Mainly inconsistent and loud, downright scary in ice/snow, and others have blown them up.

Spartans seem to have a better reputation than most these days.

Aussies were one of the best, then I heard of more issues a few years back. Now they have changed some of the designs and offer different thickness thrust washers to tune the locking behavior which will help.
 
My Spartan in a 8.25 has been great. Ran a cheap chinese lunchbox in a d30 for 1 trip and broke all of it. Replaced with TruTrac (not lunchbox I know) and its been great. Just put a spartan in a yota 8" but havent run it yet. Pretty sure the D30, 8.25, and yota are all around the $210-230 range when I was shopping. I called Quick Performance, they're cheaper on the phone than on the site (and localish to me).
 
Sceep said:
ZJ Front lp d30.
Click to expand...
You have an application problem. It's just too small to be really strong.

I run lockrights with diesels and they're fine with <35" tires. The diffs are dana 60/70/80 though.
 
u2slow said:
You have an application problem. It's just too small to be really strong.

I run lockrights with diesels and they're fine with <35" tires. The diffs are dana 60/70/80 though.
Click to expand...

Maybe for the lock rite, I've seen and experienced the aussies and spartans hold up to quite a bit in Toyota 8" diffs.
 
I'm not familiar with the Toyota 8" carrier, but I suspect the lunchbox unit is bigger/stronger than the D30 (7.25").
 
u2slow said:
I'm not familiar with the Toyota 8" carrier, but I suspect the lunchbox unit is bigger/stronger than the D30 (7.25").
Click to expand...

It's probably a little bigger, but so are all the other parts. I broke a 30 spline birf stub shaft with mine, same size a stock D60.

My samurai is way smaller and has held up to abuse with water filled SxS tires and rcv's :laughing:

Hell brake a dozen shafts before he hurts the spartan.
 
I'm sure input torque is a factor. Sceep ZJ has a V8?

I have a NiB Spartan going in a 60 next. I'm nervous about locking a 44/50. :homer:
 
I had a lock right in a d30 back in the day. That was pre Aussie and Spartan. Ran it for a few years, never broke anything in the front D30 running 33" TSLs and 35 MTRs. I didn't have a trailer at the time, so I rarely went full 'tard.

I've run Spartans in the last few front D60s, mostly because they seem to be the easiest to find. I remember back on the old site people claiming front lunchboxes failed less frequently than detroits if you broke a shaft. I went lunchbox and haven't looked back.
 
Had a Spartan in the front D30 of my LJ for years. No issues at all. Only lunch box I've ever used so sample of one...
 
Toreadorranger said:
How about a cheap Helical LSD? If your not going to crazy might be a good strength vs traction compromise

Click to expand...
That’s what I’ll like to try if I have a D30 to to put one in, for street driving and no more than mild wheeling, like the OP.

I have basically the same thing, TrueTrac, in my tow rig/dd’s D80. The only times I had one tire spin when one tire was on ice. Nothing a little braking can’t fix.
 
I'm a fan of worm gear lsd's for tow rigs or cars, but they suck off road. Even a flat snowy road, they'll unload.

Sure they're better than fully open, but I can't see the cost.
 
I had the powertrax no-slip in a D30 for a while. Its got better manners than a basic lunchbox. Dunno about ultimate strength.
 
Ive installed a few Lock Rights and Spartans over the years. They are built basically the same, except the Spartans use bigger dia pins & springs and seem to fail less as a result. Everyone i know with a Spartan has it in a Jeep or Cherokee, and none of them have broken.
 
another vote for Spartan lockers, I threw a spartan locker in my YJ's HP44 front 8 years ago with good rock crawling abuse. while its been a low hp rig till now, it did crawl with deep gears and double cases so the torque was there on 37's. time will tell how well it will do with its new heart. but it has done well in my book.
 
I’ve listened to a few interviews with Cora Jokinen. I would support Torq/Aussie. It’s pretty cool what’s she has done/is doing to grow the their product line, seem to have good product support.
 
Always late to chime in. BIL has a ZJ D30 in a S10 blazer with a 350/700R4 on 35’s and has been banging on it for years with a spartan in it.

If I were buying a new lunchbox though I’d go with the Torq (aussie) because the two halves are keyed together instead of having pins.
 
JR4X said:
Always late to chime in. BIL has a ZJ D30 in a S10 blazer with a 350/700R4 on 35’s and has been banging on it for years with a spartan in it.

If I were buying a new lunchbox though I’d go with the Torq (aussie) because the two halves are keyed together instead of having pins.
Click to expand...
They sell 2 types. Aussie and the torq. I have grizzly in my XJ’s D30 and Aussie in its C8.25. Imho Grizzly locker is a massive upgrade over stock D30 open carrier.

However Lunch box locker is a cheap & proven option, but I wonder how much better is torq locker over Aussie locker? I don’t like the Aussie in my XJ’s C8.25. The D30 with grizzly locker have little slop and works very well, which cause drivability issue in my XJ (5 speed manual) in 4wd. Letting off gas the grizzly in front engages well before Aussie in rear will, cause for some interesting moment on snowy road or off road downhill engine braking :laughing:
Grizzly also will engage before Aussie when getting on gas.
 
TrailTamer said:
They sell 2 types. Aussie and the torq. I have grizzly in my XJ’s D30 and Aussie in its C8.25. Imho Grizzly locker is a massive upgrade over stock D30 open carrier.

However Lunch box locker is a cheap & proven option, but I wonder how much better is torq locker over Aussie locker? I don’t like the Aussie in my XJ’s C8.25. The D30 with grizzly locker have little slop and works very well, which cause drivability issue in my XJ (5 speed manual) in 4wd. Letting off gas the grizzly in front engages well before Aussie in rear will, cause for some interesting moment on snowy road or off road downhill engine braking :laughing:
Grizzly also will engage before Aussie when getting on gas.
Click to expand...
I’ve tried LBL’s in the rear twice and they were both lok-rites, hated both of them. Have ran like-rites a lot in front and loved them. I got to compare all of them SXS at the vendor show at EJS two weeks ago. The Torq locker looks like the winner out of all of them to me.

I’ve had 6 different lok-rites in rigs and would use them again also.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Back Refresh